Farms and other businesses in rural Marion County are seeing an uptick in copper theft, despite the Oregon Legislature's amendment of the scrap-metal law last year.

The law makes it harder for thieves to sell copper and other metals to recyclers.

"As a farm supplier, I get the calls when the farmers experience a loss of copper," [Val Tancredi, who works in irrigation system designs and sales at Stettler Supply Co. in northeast Salem] said. "They call to tell me they're going to have to shut down because they can't irrigate their crops, so we have to drop everything to help them put wire back into the (irrigation) pipe."

To up the ante against criminals, Salem Police Officer Mark Jantz recently held a meeting to offer suggestions, such as increasing the lighting around a business property, installing as many surveillance cameras as possible on the property, and having fencing that allows police to look onto the property.

Read more at StatesmanJournal.com.